Revisiting Rochester theater

As our archive is filling up quickly, from time to time, we’re collecting past stories on a common theme. Today, we look at a year and a half exploring the local theater scene. In addition to reviewing shows, the goal has been to look at art and audiences from various perspectives.

Our first theatrical appearance was in A little bit of the Moulon Rouge and Greenwich Village. With a kindly given Fringe Festival Press Pass, I watched a vibrant performance of La Cage aux Folles by the Rochester Association of Performing Arts. RAPA’s Artistic Director Alan Cuseo even gave “the press” complimentary sandwiches. And got my picture taken back stage with the cast.

We asked Rochestarians whether our rocky relationship with Bowie could be softened, sadly a question now moot. Ehler’s production has since sparked a local Bowie revival — both before and after his death — as seen in a spate of Bowie nights, events and screenings.

The office as therapy in Geva’s The May Queenlooks at how playwright Molly Smith Metzler problematizes the concept of narcissist personality disorder by creating a sympathetic character who could easily be clinically diagnosed as narcissistic.

In Thumbs up for GeVa’s “Thurgood”, we dicussed three GeVa plays been based on the lives of historically prominent African-Americans: Mountaintop (2015), Martin Luther King Jr., The Agitators (2017), Frederick Douglass, and Thurgood (2018), Thurgood Marshall.

Then we turned to the wonderful plays produced by the JCC’s Center Stage Director Ralph Meranto.King ‘Drew and his new Crew at JCC CenterStage: “Bloody, Bloody, Andrew Jackson” includes allusions to the 2016 election. Meranto’s well chosen play is increasingly prescient as President Trump has a portrait of Jackson now in the Oval Office and recently visited the Hermitage, pointing out to other tourists similarities between the presidencies.

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